50 Shades of Scarborough

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20-Mar-15

After an impressive start to the year, the Team at Aston Charles was rewarded with an all expenses trip to the beautiful Yorkshire coast, or more specifically, Scarborough.

Monday morning arrived with great excitement, and the team met at 8.30am to fuel up with a full English breakfast at Leeds train station. Fortunately, MD and Transport & Logistics Manager for the day, planned ahead to book train tickets in advance as it seemed that every human being in Yorkshire decided to board the exact same train… most of them reading 50 Shades of Grey…

Shortly after reaching Scarborough, we arrived at the beautiful 4* Crown Spa Hotel, which offers incredible sea views, although we did have to endure a pretty gruelling hike from the seafront up to the Esplanade where the hotel is situated. Annoyingly, no one saw the funicular railway 200 yards further along the beach! After spending a couple of hours strolling along the sea front and eating fish and chips, the sense of occasion clearly got to the Consultants, as by 2.30pm, they’d already taken over the karaoke afternoon in the Newcastle Packet. Allan was as impressive as ever with his version of ‘My Way’ and we were pleasantly surprised by Saraya’s incredible rendition of Lily Allen’s, ‘Not Fair.’ As for Richard, he’s probably regretting suggesting iphone roulette to decide who had to sing first. (Video evidence available) We then played a spot of cricket on the beach whilst the sun was blazing, before returning back to the hotel for a relaxing swim and a well-deserved Jacuzzi.

The day continued by visiting a highly recommended, local Italian restaurant, where the food was out of this world. Perfectly cooked, succulent steaks and delicious chicken dishes…and to top it off, James concluded the meal with a traditional, homemade tiramisu…he was in heaven…he still talks about it now (really, he does). We ended the night/morning by visiting some of Scarborough’s historic public houses and bars. Let’s just leave it there…

Feeling slightly tender on the Tuesday morning, we headed for breakfast, before we made the lunchtime train home. We all thoroughly enjoyed our trip and look forward to winning many more!

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A Guide to Personalised Number Plates: Is Your Fully Comprehensive Car Insurance Really Fully Comprehensive?With many millions of private number plates in the UK, personal plates are big business. Many of these numbers are purchased as an investment and kept without being used on a car – but most are used on vehicles throughout the country, giving a personal aspect to the dreary necessity of a vehicle registration plate.However, many people don’t realise that without specific agreement with your car insurance provider, the cost of the number plate may not be recovered by the policy holder in the case of the car being stolen or written off. Read on for our guide to personalised number plates and how to protect them.Where can you buy personalised number plates, and how much do they cost?Number plates can be bought from the DVLA or through a private seller, with the most expensive UK plate to date being a massive £518,480 for the number “25 O.”[i] Of course, most people wouldn’t consider spending half a million pounds on a number plate; but there are many thousands of people who do spend significant amounts on private plates that mean something to themselves or their loved ones.Many of the personalised plates in the UK are not actually used on the road. The rights to them are kept on a certificate (that needs renewing every ten years – or more frequently for numbers purchased before 2015.) This can be made into a plate that can be used as a decoration, or just kept until the “perfect vehicle” is found.Registering your plateWhen you purchase the rights to use a personalised number you will receive a certificate of entitlement in the form of a V750 or V778 document. When you are ready to register the number plate to a vehicle, you need to use this document to assign the number to the relevant car. At this point you will be sent a new V5C log book for the vehicle, detailing the new registration number. The new number plates must be fixed to the car before ...

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The financial crash of 2007-2009 saw a massive increase in the regulation of the financial industry, allowing space for agile and responsive financial technology (FinTech) firms to disrupt the market, showcasing themselves as serious competitors within the financial industry.The need for quick technological advancement within the financial sector saw lots of the major banks developing their own technology departments. At the same time, many smaller financial firms have found that the most economically viable solution is to collaborate closely with existing FinTech firms. This involves combining their own traditional financial services with the forward planning and emerging technology of the FinTechs.[i]Indeed, it appears that FinTechs and traditional companies have lots to offer one another, with the salient aspects of both organisation types being integral when it comes to what consumers want.What do traditional financial services have to offer?When customers are placing their money with a financial institution, they tend to prefer working with an established, traditional financial service. This lack of a trusted, traditional brand holds the FinTechs back from being able to gain control over the market. The FinTechs are finding that collaborating with long established companies is a mutually beneficial arrangement. In fact a report from LinkedIn found that 75% of FinTech firms indicate that their primary goal is for collaboration with current traditional financial service organisations.[ii] The same report concluded that most FinTechs were destined to fail without the increased trust, visibility and scale afforded by this type of collaboration.[iii]Speed vs. a personal service – are both important?More and more, customers want the immediacy that can only be provided by technology; immediate decisions on loans, immediate responses to queries, immediate transfers of cash. However, at the same time, they still require the one-to-one customer services provided by ...

In an era of e-mail, text messages and social media, instant communication is an integral part of modern life. As such, quick and efficient communication is important for every business. Long gone are the days when customers are willing to wait long periods for a response to questions or concerns. Rather, there is an appetite for instant answers and swift resolutions. Customers are also used to having information at their fingertips, desiring only focused, relevant details. To avoid potential damage to your business reputation, taking a close look at your client communication is vital.When Clients Contact You…Be contactableA mere 16% of people would rate their insurance companies as “excellent” when it comes to being contactable. 32 % consider their providers “good”; leaving a worrying 52% who feel that their insurance company is not as easy to contact as it should be.[i] In the event of a crisis, policyholders need to get in touch with their insurers quickly and efficiently. 73% of customers indicate that they would be likely to look for another provider if they did not receive consistent good service across all aspects of their experience. [ii] It is clear that if policyholders don’t receive the service they expect then they will leave and they may also damage the reputation of the company as they go. With social media and online reviews allowing instantly visible complaints, the possibility for reputation damage after poor service is all too real. On the other hand, insurance companies that respond well to attempts to contact them are likely to benefit from excellent client retention as well as positive reviews from their customers.There are a number of ways that insurance companies can offer customers an efficient means of contact. These include: · Responding to e-mails without delay.· Having multiple people working in call centres, so that clients do not have ...

Six Strategies for Acquiring Top Talent Within the Financial Services SectorSome statistics suggest that the most productive, talented employees are a massive four times more productive than their “average” colleagues.[i] As well as exceeding targets in the short term, talented individuals are the future of a company; the future managers and chief executives, ready to shape the business with new ideas and market leading strategies. Studies indicate that a well planned and executed investment in talent acquisition can boost profits by a staggering 20% [ii]. These striking statistics should have companies leaping to focus on a tactical approach to talent acquisition for their business. The question is, “how do we acquire (and retain) top talent?”Treat candidates wellInitially, your business will need to focus on ensuring that job candidates are treated well, across the board. From first point of contact, through the interview process https://www.astoncharles.co.uk/news/blog/interview-to-impress-how-employers-can-positively-impact-candidates and to the job offer (or rejection), ensure that the ethos of the company is geared towards professionalism and respect for candidates. After all, even the candidates that you reject may be suitable for another job within your company at a later date. Candidates are also likely to pass on their experience to other prospective customers or employees. After the process, it is worthwhile to ask candidates about their experience, in order to improve your recruitment strategies. Nearly 60% of people seeking a job state that they have had a bad experience during the course of their job hunting. [iii] These bad experiences will inevitably feed into a negative view of the brand as they share the issues with acquaintances.Have a desirable brandAs stated above, ensure that all interactions with customers and candidates are positive and professional. 36% of people suggest that the company reputation, along with conversing ...

Once again, we’re running our annual Gold Cup competition. Simply, make sure you follow the Aston Charles company LinkedIn page, like the relevant status and name your preferred horse- a full list is below. The winner gets £50, 2nd place £30 and 3rd £20. If two people pick the same horse, we will draw names from a hat. For full T&C’s contact Richard Jones – 077250 41848Might BiteNative RiverOur DukeKillultagh VicRoad To RespectDefinitly RedTotal RecallEdwulfMinella RoccoDjakadamAmericanJAnibale FlyBachassonOutlanderDouble ShuffleSaphir Du RheuTea For TwoMala BeachShantou Flyer...

We are delighted to announce Aston Charles’ 10th Birthday. Managing Director, James Heald, says, "since setting up the business in my spare room back in 2008, we've achieved a great deal, which I'm very proud of. We love recruiting into the insurance and Financial Services markets I’d like to say a huge thank you to our candidates, clients and everyone who has played a part along the way. Here’s to the next ten years. Cheers!"...

Can Artificial Intelligence Revolutionise the Insurance Industry?Artificial Intelligence (AI) allows a computer to access data and use that to predict outcomes. It also has the potential to respond with a relevant action without additional human involvement. AI can make processes run more smoothly, with no margin for human error and huge scope for intelligent targeting of services for customers. The insurance industry is an ideal candidate to benefit from the application of AI. Deloittes 2018 Insurance Industry Outlook has predicted that worldwide spending from the insurance sector on AI and Cognitive Intelligence (CI) will reach $1.4 billion by 2021; a 48% increase.[i] Many experts suggest that companies that do not invest in this disruptive technology may find themselves left behind – so insurers need to be careful not to miss opportunities.Targeted marketing and customer retention86% of companies believe that AI will make their marketing strategies more effective in their interactions with customers. [ii] AI can combine data from a number of spheres - including social media and accessible data from current policyholders. It can build up a local knowledge using statistics of the neighbourhood and predict likely preferences based on demographics. AI can use this information to draw conclusions and then target individuals with packages that are ideal for them. In this way, marketing can be honed for each individual. This strategy is especially useful for giving existing customers targeted marketing – very important as customer retention is far less expensive than generating new custom.Underwriting risk At a basic level, AI can be used to automate services for policy purchases and calculating risks. As technology becomes more sophisticated it is possible to imagine that the Internet of Things [iii] (IoT) in conjunction with AI may be able to assess risk with far more accuracy that the questionnaire style data gathering that is currently used. ...

How will Brexit Affect the Insurance Industry?For the insurance industry, the uncertainty of Brexit is an anxious time. Immediately following the referendum, shares in insurance companies fell heavily, with some insurers falling over 15%.[i] Answering the title question; “how will Brexit affect the insurance industry?” is not straightforward. The simple answer is in fact, “we don’t know;” an unsatisfying answer for an industry that bases its entire business strategy on reliably predicting risk. However, while no one can yet be sure of all the effects, it is possible to make a number of assumptions based on what we already know; and there are advantages as well as concerns. Most insurance companies are now looking to the future positively and strategizing ways in which they can benefit from Brexit.Restrictions for working throughout the EUAs a member of the EU single market, UK insurance companies can currently underwrite businesses throughout the EU, on the basis of their UK authorisations. Once the UK exits the EU, this right may end. This is not an insurmountable problem, and it is one that many UK based insurance companies are already seeking to overcome, by creating subsidiaries in the EU. [ii] However, it is certainly an issue that companies need to think about, well in advance of the exit from the EU.There will be a financial costCertainly, there will be ways in which the industry will feel the financial cost of leaving the EU. This will happen in a number of ways. The weakening pound may mean people are less inclined to engage in activities that require additional insurance. There will be costs involved in changes to structures or policies as regulations may change. Documents will need to be updated and staff will need to be educated about new systems. Some companies may also invest in ways to continue trading abroad, in case reciprocal trading agreements are not reached. However, there are ways in which all these costs can be mitigated by increasing ...

The New General Data Protection Regulation: What is the Effect on the Insurance Industry?Collection of personal data from clients is vital to many industries, including the insurance sector. Gathering this sort of information allows brokers and underwriters to offer clients the most suitable products available, meaning that policyholders receive the best service. The Data Protection Directive of 1995 has offered some level of protection to customers and clients, meaning that when they share their personal details with companies, their details are secure.However, the DPD has long been considered outdated by many, with concerns that the directive has not kept up with the risks associated with cybercrime. Only 74% of businesses consider cyber security a high priority (with only 31% defining it as “very high.”[i] However, 46% of UK businesses have identified a cyber breach over the last 12 months. [ii] In 4% of cyber breaches, personal data was destroyed, altered or taken. [iii]Last year, the EU adopted a new regulation; the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will be enforceable across the EU (and for any companies trading within the EU) from May 2018. This new regulation will allow individuals to have much more control over the data that is collected about them. Huge fines can be imposed for organisations that don’t follow the new legislation. How does this affect the insurance industry?The insurance industry uses personal data from clients to ensure a client centred service, offering packages aimed specifically at their customers (or prospective customers). The sharing and use of data between brokers and insurers is vital to the smooth operating of these companies. However, some changes may be required in order to remain compliant with the new legislation.Tightening of cyber securityIt is likely that data security is already a prominent consideration for many insurance companies. The financial and insurance sectors already have a better track ...